Be flexible and take comfort

I’ve had a lousy Lent—maybe my worst ever.  I had great plans, but just a few days after Ash Wednesday, it was obvious I wasn’t going to meet those plans.  It seems to me that God is steering me in a different direction than the ones I chose.  I keep trying to keep my Lenten promises, but I also keep failing miserably.  I can’t keep a simple fast.  I had a plan to spend time in a church every day, and for some reason work keeps getting in the way!  Despite all of this, I am still listening through prayer for what God has in store for me this Lent.

Perhaps your plans for Lent have changed too. Perhaps the kind of Lent you wanted to give God is not the Lent He's giving you! If that's true, don't fret!

I found some comfort—and you may, too—in reading Matthew’s gospel (18:21-35).

Like the servant in this passage (and me), perhaps you intended to work long and hard this Lent to pay off a debt you owed to your Master.  But maybe God has other plans, like the master in this gospel, who, "moved with compassion . . . let him go and forgave him."

If God wants you to let go of your plans for Lent, let go!  God is moved with compassion for us in whatever action He is taking in our lives. He forgives our debt of sin through Jesus, who came to show us the Father’s incredible mercy.

So this Lent, I intend to be flexible, relax, and accept what God is giving me—even if it's not what I had planned.